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Published Quarterly. No i, September, 1892. Subscription, $1 Per Year. 



'OUR JIM" 



(illustrated) 



The World's Champion 




CHE GREAT FIGHT IN DETAIIi 



WISH FIGHTS, LOVE EPISODES, RACY ANECDOTES— 
i HOW CORBETT BECAME A FIGHTER. 



THE CROWN PUBLISHING CO. 
Rose St., New York, 1203 Market St., San Francisco 



Entered in the San Francisco Post Office as second class matter. 



"OUR JIM" 



(ILLUSTRATED) 



THE WORLD'S CHAMPION 










f 



0> s 
THE CROWN PUBLISHING CO. 

49 Rose St., New York 

1203 Market St., San Francisco 



« 



Copyright, 



1892, 
By 



Iv. H. Irvine. 

All Rights Reserved, 



Press of Valleau & Peterson 
410 Sansome Street, San Francisco, Cal. 






"OUR JIM 



?? 



CHAPTER I. 
Heroes Win Our Love. 

In All Ages Men Have Worshiped Their 
Fellow-Men — Some Traits of Humanity 
Everywhere. - 

Reverence for heroes is natural. 
In all ages of the world respect for 
great men has distinguished the 
masses. Our old ancestors made 
kings of their muscular heroes and 
placed men of great physical powers 
on tripods supposed to raise them 
nearer to heaven. 

In the legends of every race tra- 
dition tells marvelous stories of the 



12 Our Jim 



endurance of heroes. They were 
often clothed with the attributes of 
deity, and demi-gods were as com- 
mon in ancient times as idols and 
wooden images are to-day in darkest 
Africa, or among the benighted 
Mongolians of China. 

The age of steam and electricity 
has its gods too, its demi-gods to 
whom civilized races pay the tribute 
of their loyal praise. Literature and 
the churches cannot stay that irre- 
sistible impulse which makes men 
take oft their hats to other men who 
have added to the usual attributes 
of man a longer reach of arm, a 
quicker eye, a more skillful delivery, 
Marquis of Queensberry Rules. 

And so it comes that James Cor- 
bett is now our god, tarrying on the 
earth under the soubriquet of 
" Champion Jim." The world, which 
is a fickle jade, had tired of John L. 
Sullivan. It longed for a new name, 
for another god. Humanity likes 
heroes but it does not like to believe 
that one man is so great that none 



l 



The World 's Champion fj 

greater can ever appear. We all 
like to believe that what man has 
done man can do, therefore Corbett's 
victory in playing with Sullivan as a 
cat tosses a mouse, teaches us to be- 
lieve in the possibilities of man. 

And so Corbett may one day meet 
his better. May he be able to 4 'stand 
prosperity," and to bear himself as 
he has hitherto done, like a gentle- 
man, forgetting none of the obliga- 
tions to friends and wife and family. 
If he shall live like an honorable 
man the world will gladly see him 
wear his honors thick upon him for 
many years to come. 



ij. Our fim 



CHAPTER II. 

A San Francisco Boy. 

Some Racy Anecdotes of the Champion's Early 
Years — "Rushing the Growler" — A Love 
Episode and a Champagne Bath For a Lady. 

The hero of the day, whose great- 
ness and fame readily outrank the 
glories of all the presidents from 
Washington down; whose name is 
to-day on the tongues of brave men 
and beautiful women to the exclusion 
of politics, social news, cholera news 
and religion, is a native of San Fran- 
cisco. 

Corbett was born on September 
ist, 1866, at San Francisco, and 
he grew tall and brawny beneath 
Californian skites and beastly San 
Francisco fogs. His friends say 
that he lived there long enough to 



The World 's Champion fj 

get plenty of wind, for the raw 
breezes from old ocean's gray and 
melancholy waste swoop down upon 
denizens of that bleak and forbidding 
city as if Providence had a special 
grievance against the people. 

In early life young Corbett used 
to run away from home to buy pitch- 
ers of beer for a handsome young 
widow who lived near the Corbett 
homestead. Falling into the ver- 
nacular readily like all children, who 
pick up slang rapidly, Jim called 
this pastime " rushing the growler." 

One day he remained away an 
unusually long time and on his re- 
turn his father asked him where he 
had been. 

" Oh," said he, " Iv'e just rushed 
three growlers for Mrs.- — ." 

Jim's father always remembered 
the odd expression, for it was the 
first time he ever heard it. 

When the news of victory over 
" the Big One" reached the new 
Champion's father, the incident of 



1 6 Our Jim 

his boy's childhood naturally sprang 
to his mind. 

"What news?" asked Corbett's 
mother of her husband. 

" Well," said he, " do you remem- 
ber that time that the lad said he 
had rushed three growlers?" 

" Yes, indeed well." 

" Praise God, your boy has just 
rushed the fourth growler to a finish 
in 21 rounds." 

" Thank God for that! I knew he 
would win," said Mrs. Corbett. 

Corbett's father has always been 
very shy of reporters. He despises 
their dapper, cunning ways. Once, 
just before the Corbett-Jackson fight, 
the elder Corbett got interviewed 
"as easy as falling off from a log." 

He was in Judge Rix's Police 
Court chatting with Clerk Kenny. 
A reporter sat by Kenny engaged 
in writing so that the old gentleman 
thought he was a deputy clerk. 

Feeling secure he made a neat 
speech, foretelling Jim's victory. He 
was beside himself when he saw the 






The World's Champion iy 

interview in an afternoon paper the 
next day, and he accused Kenny of 
4 'putting up a job on him. M To 
square himself Kenny begged the 
reporter to sign a statement exoner- 
ating him from any blame and set- 
ting forth the true origin of the 
interview. 

"By the gods, then", said Mr. 
Corbett, " I'll never shoot off my 
bazoo around your office again." 

Since that episode the proud father 
of the world's champion has not 
broken the silence save in monosylla- 
bles and in a most guarded way. He 
believes in Jim, though, and is proud 
of him as may be seen by the gleam 
that darts from his clear eyes as he 
strokes his beard and listens to 
others discuss the boy's powers. 

As a boy Jim Corbett was a hand- 
some, chivalrous fellow of proud 
spirit, and quite a favorite among 
the girls. He had no more fights 
than the average boy and no more 
striking ventures than are usual. 
He was always a good angler and 



1 8 Our Jim 



from earlier youth he loved the 
water. His memory does not go 
back to a time when he could not 
row a boat. He learned to swim in 
the Russian river country quite late 
in youth. A girl some years older 
than himself, a girl, too, of great 
beauty, once caught him and kissed 
him as he was passing along a 
crowded street. He blushed and 
almost cried. His companions say 
that he felt so cut up about it that he 
would not pass the street of the oc- 
currence for months. When he grew 
older one day he met the girl who 
had kissed him, in the company of a 
lad who is now a handsome reporter 
at the New City Hall. His jealousy 
was at once aroused; but he did not 
say a word. The next week, how- 
ever, he began to pass the girl's 
house every evening. Within a 
month he learned the manly art of 
kissing, and the elder Corbett can 
to-day produce the evidence that he 
had to pay for a pair of hinges which 



The World's Champion ^g 

Jim broke off from the girl's father's 
gate. 

Corbett was never a roue but he 
was not a celebate or a monk in early 
times Once, some years ago, he 

and Jack and two young 

ladies imbibed a good deal of cham- 
pagne at a fashionable saloon. That 
was when Jim was a mere lad, sew- 
ing a few oats. In a dare-devil 
spirit Jack challenged Cor- 
bett to give one of the girls a cham- 
pagne bath. Jim felt just good 
enough to do it, so, observing that 
she was quite decollete^hft sponged 
her face gently with the bubbling 
"water of the champagne," that 
comes so dear. That was one of 
his earlier characteristic freaks, yet 
there seemed to be nothing improper 
or vulgar about it. He was so polite 
and gentle that his performance 
seemed like the ablution of a candi- 
date for holy honors, in some oriental 
religious rite. 

There are many good stories of 
Corbett's freaks. His wife says he 



20 Our Jim 

is a born humorist to-day, and that 
he cannot go at anything with a long 
face. Probably his inability to take 
anything seriously caused him to de- 
cline to take a drubbing from John L. 



The World 's Champion 21 



CHAPTER III. 
His Boyhood Fights. 

What Jim's Favorite Chum, James McEnroe, 
Says of the Champion's Early Years — 
Bested by "Scotchy" McDonald. 

James McEnroe, a genial gen- 
tleman about Corbett's a^e, 
says that no fellow of Corbett's age 
and size ever whipped him. 

'Scotchy" McDonald, the athlete 
and ball-player, once gave Jim a 
hard ^o, according to Mr. McEnroe, 
but McDonald was at that time much 
older than Corbett. Jim never had 
very many fights as a boy, but when 
he got into a "scrap" he was always 
successful. None of his playmates 
can remember the time when he was 
bested by his match in age and 
size. 



22 Our Jim 



His first idea of fighting for a 
business was after his amateur fight 
with Joe Choynski, in his father's 
well known stables. From that time 
on his life's ambition was to become 
a hard hitter, and his hope has since 
been to win the heavy-weight cham- 
pionship of the world. 

Soon after his early Choynski 
fight Corbett went to Salt Lake, 
where he sparred. Afterwards he 
became instructor for the Olympic 
Club. Soon thereafter, in a private 
set-to, he "did" Dick Matthews, 
the Australian, Once, when no one 
was present save his friend McEnroe, 
Corbett pummeled instructor Fulda 
in royal style. He was able to worry 
Professor Walter Watson, who was 
greatly annoyed by Corbett's skill at 
ducking. 

From 1885 to 1888 Jim was em- 
ployed in the Nevada bank, and 
after that he worked for the Anglo- 
Nevada Insurance Company. He 
soon grew weary of so tame a life 



The World 's Champion 23 

and devoted his time to the manly 
art. 

"Jim always wanted to be a ball- 
player " said his young brother, Joe, 
"and you bet he was a good batter 
when he played." 

To further his ambition Jim joined 
the Shamrock ball club, at that time 
one of the thriving institutions of 
that part of the city called Hayes 
valley. 

It was about this period in life that 
he used to strip to the waist in his 
father's stable, and "put out" his 
playmates. One of the notable vic- 
tories of early youth, which the boys 
recall with pleasure, was his triumph 
over Billy Gallagher, who is now a 
well known saloon man. 

Though he loved out-door sports 
his friends, especially Mr. McEnroe, 
say he was not a swimmer until 
lately. 

"We took Jim out in a yacht once," 
said he, ''and tied a rope to his waist 
after which we threw him in the 
water, where he wiggled and plunged 



2$ Our Jim 

until we pulled him out. He was a 
land-lubber in those days sure." 

Jim was educated at St Ignatius 
College, San Francisco, and at the 
College of the Sacred Heart. 

Mr. Corbett was married to Miss 
Ollie Lake, an estimable young lady 
of Santa Cruz, in June, ( 1885. They 
have no children. 



The World 's Champion 25 



CHAPTER IV. 

Books and Schooling. 

Not a Lover of Novels But a Man Wrapped 
up in the marvels of astronomy — a 
regular jekyll and hyde in litera- 
TURE. 

Ask nine out of ten of Corbett's 
friends whether he is a reader and 
they will say "No, except of the 
newspapers." 

The writer of this sketch asked his 
relatives and best friends whether, 
as a boy and in early manhood, he 
read books of any kind, from novels 
to philosophy. 

"He never read any novels/' said 
his young brother, who looks mar- 
velously like him, ''but he used to 
read sensible books. 

"What kind ?" 



26 Our Jim 



"Oh, I was only a kid then, but I 
know they were not novels." 

"Why ?" 

"Because they had heavy cloth 
and calf covers. They were not trashy 
or yellow backed." 

Whether Jim pondered over the 
glories of Agamemnon and Ajax or 
whether he was studying J. D. Spen- 
cer's able editorials on democracy no 
one knows, but it is certain that at one 
period of Jim's life he was absorbed 
in the study of astronomy. The 
wonders of the heavens impressed 
him in early youth. People did not 
know this, and his dual life was a 
Jekyll and Hyde existence. 

His sisters say that before he was 
ten years old he could do the work 
of a man, and he pondered gravely 
over the revelations of the family 
almanac. He could always "call the 
furn" on the moon's phases -and on 
sunrise and sunset. That is where 
he first learned to be on time at the 
sound of the gong, and to be alert 
after each minute's rest. 



The World 's Champion 27 

The first thing that Jim ever ex- 
plored outside of his own wig-wam 
was the city and county of San 
Francisco, including Buckley and 
his territory. It seemed wonderful 
to him, even in early youth, that the 
machinery of San Francisco should 
noiselessly move in response to one 
blind man's will, and it was the sight 
of Buckley and his power which first 
caused him to turn his eyes toward 
the starry heavens, and wonder 
whether a Supreme Being or Buck- 
ley caused the steady coming of day 
and night and the marvels of the 
''starry deep." 

One day Jim picked up a news- 
paper which stated that Lord Ross 
had a telescope which would show 
in plain view twenty millions of stars 
and that every star was a world. 

"Lord Ross is an Englishman is 
not he ?" asked the lad, of Mrs. Cor- 
bett, his mother. 

"Yes, my boy," replied she. 

il Then America will beat that yet/' 
he said. 



28 Our fim 



In about a year later he read that 
the Lick telescope ' 'would reveal 

ONE HUNDRED MILLIONS OF STARS," 

and that every star was a sun, giving 
light and heat to its planets or 
worlds. 

It was at that time he decided to 
study astronomy. Though few of 
his friends are aware of it Jim Cor- 
bett admires nothing so much as to 
look into the dome of the eternal 
blue and marvel at the wonders 
there spread before his entranced 
vision. 

Jim was educated far beyond the 
average "pug," and his laurels were 
won at St Ignatius, as before stated, 
and at the Sacred Heart, San Fran- 
cisco. 

Once or twice in his life the hero 
of September 7th had an opportu- 
nity to marry women of wealth, but 
he followed the impulses, of his 
manly heart and gave his heart and 
hand to a gentle girl of tender heart 
and cultured features, Miss Lillie 
Lake of Santa Cruz. 



The World \s Champion 2g 

More than any pugilist in the ring 
to-day Jim Corbett combines per- 
sonal magnetism, handsome features, 
and a manner straightforward and 
honorable. 

The first time the writer ever saw 
him was at the Reliance Club in 
Oalfland, where Corbett was asked 
for some information for a news- 
paper. With much intelligence and 
politeness Mr. Corbett put himself 
out to get the data required. The 
impression he then made was that 
he was a man of strong personality, 
good heart and magnetism. Above 
all things he was cool and self pos- 
sessed, though at the time surrounded 
by hundreds of excited men and 
women. ' In his fight with Sullivan 
he exhibited the same generalship 
and coolness. 



SO Our fim 



CHAPTER V. 
His Family — His Mother. 

The World's Best Man Has a Sweet and 
Noble Mother, Whom He Greatly Resem- 
bles—His Beloved Sisters and Their Good 
Sense. 

It was the writer's privilege to be 
invited to the Corbett home on 
Hayes street, in San Francisco, the 
day after Sullivan's Waterloo. 

There he met Mrs. Catherine Cor- 
bett, the immortal Jim's mother. She 
was suffering much pain from a 
broken arm, but she exhibited rare 
coolness and fortitude throughout 
the forenoon. 

As may be imagined, neighbors 
and friends were calling, especially 
kind women who were extravagant 
in their congratulations. 



The World 's Champion ji 

4 'Does Jim get his generalship, as 
he does his features, from you?" 
asked the writer. 

Mrs. Corbett, with rare modesty, 
was about to say 'no" when the 
women assembled said in clear 
chorus, "yes!" 

Mrs. Corbett is a handsome lady 
of gentle demeanor. Though the 
mother of eleven children she is well 
preserved and handsome. 

u Did you think your boy would 
win?" she was asked. 

"I thought he was very clever," 
she said, "but I was really afraid 
that that fellow would rush at him 
and hurt him." 

Jim's sisters are all handsome and 
intelligent girls. They love their 
mother and are devoted to each 
other and to Jim. 

"Please don't put too much in the 
papers about us," said one of them, 
but when they learned that it was a 
book which the visitor proposed to 
issue they courteously gave him pic- 
tures of their parents. 



32 



Our Ji, 



im 



The Corbett home was the happi- 
est spot in San Francisco, probably 
in the world, on September 8th, 
1892. 

All in all the Corbetts are not only 
a devoted but an interesting family. 




MISS CATHERINE CORBET^T. 

There are twelve of them and one 
dead. Patrick Corbett, well known 
as "P. J.," is 58 years of age, a man 
of rare sense and good heart. He 



The World s Champion jj 



has many friends. Mrs. Catherine 
Corbett, his wife, is but a few years 
younger than he. Their children 
are: Frank, Harry, Esther, Jim, 
John, Teresa, Mamie, Katie, Joe 
and Tom. 




P. J. CORBETT. 



P. J. Corbett is the proprietor of 
a large livery and undertaking busi- 



J 4 Our Jim 



ness in San Francisco, in which he 
employs his son John as a book- 
keeper Frank is a clerk in the 
Assessor's office in 'Frisco. Harry- 
runs a poolroom in the Golden Gate 
City, and everybody knows Jim's 
line of business. The youngsters, 
Joe and Tom, are students at the 
Oakland Sacred Heart College. The 
four girls are unmarried and live at 
home. Frank, Harry and Jim are 
family men, but John has thus far 
escaped the matrimonial net. There 
is a strong family likeness through- 
out the group, but Kate, the young- 
est sister, is the picture of her pugil- 
istic brother the features, of course, 
softened down. She is an acknowl- 
edged beauty.' 

In a recent copy of the New York 
World, appeared the following facts 
which are so apropos that they are 
submitted in detail 

'Ts your pugilistic ability an in- 
heritance?" was asked of Jim not 



long ago. 



The World's Champion 35 

"Well, hardly," laughed the big 
Californian; "my mother's brother, 
Tom McDonald, was a very clever 
collar-and-elbow wrestler, but that is 
the only member of our family who 
has come to public notice as a sport, 
and he never wrestled profession- 
ally. Oh, no, I'm the only black 
sheep. My brother Joe, I think, 
would turn out as a wonderful boxer 
if allowed to follow it up. The kid 
is at college now and is a great boy 
for baseball and all sports, but seems 
cut out for a boxer. He is naturally 
quick and active and has taken a 
liking to sparring, but my father 
will take care that he doesn't get too 
fond of it. One pugilist in the family 
is enough for him." 

"Mr. Corbett looks li-ke a man 
that could take care of himself if 
pushed to take his part," suggested 
the reporter. 

"I guess he could, though I've 
never known him to fight," said Jim. 
"He's a 6-footer, weighs about 180 
pounds and is very strong. Really/' 



j 6 Oun Jim 



added he, in a pensive way, " I could 
never thoroughly understand my 
father. I always leaned to mother. 
Father's a determined man, awfully 
quick-tempered and harsh at times. 
Mother is just the opposite — kind 
affectionate, easy. At home I was 
always with mother and the sisters — 
rather soft of me, I dare say. When 
father made up his mind to a 
thing nothing can change him." 

u Well, his obstinacy didn't stop you 
fighting, did it?" 

"Yes, indeed it did," replied Cor- 
bett, quickly. "That is, in a way. 
He wa's determined to stop my fight 
with Choynski before the California 
Athletic Club for a $6,000 purse, 
and I had to go off on the quiet and 
fight for $1,000." 

"Are your brothers 'sporty boys'?" 
ventured the interviewer. 

"Not exactly, with the exception 
of Joe, who seems to be a second 
Jim. Frank is a steady, quiet fel- 
low. John's great point is his easy 
good nature. He is a sort of go-as- 



The World 's Champion jy 

you-please fellow, taking things as 
they come. Nothing troubles him 
much. Harry is a sport in a way — 
that is, he'll bet his money and is in- 
terested in sporting matters gener- 
ally. He keeps a poolroom. None 
of them is what you would call a 
sporting man. Of course, they are 
all interested in my fight." 

"I suppose Joe is your favorite 
brother and Katie your favorite 
sister?" was the reporter's conclu- 
sion. 

'Oh, come now, don't you print 
anything like that," said Corbett, 
hastily, * 'because that would not be 
fair. I like themallequally. I'minter- 
ested in Joe because he's just such a 
fellow as I was at his age, full of life 
and fond of sport Katie is the 
youngest sister and looks a great 
deal like me. But when it comes 
down they're all my brothers and 
sisters, and I love one just as much 
as I do the other." Then he said, 
softly: "I have only one favorite — 
my mother." 



jS Our Jim 



''Isn t a younger Mrs. Corbett a 
favorite?" pertly inquired a pretty, 
blonde-haired young woman, swing- 
ing in a hammock on the piazza, who 
had helped freshen Jim's memory on 
the ages of his brothers and sisters. 

But the pugilist was looking stead- 
ily into space as if to conjure up the 
dear face in far-off California, and 
he made no reply. 



The World 's Champion jg 



CHAPTER VI. 

Corbett's Record. 

A Marvelous Round of Triumphs — Youth and 
Science Are Great But the "Big One" 
Long a Favorite in Spite of All. 

Sullivan's record is many years 
older than Corbett's, and, as all 
know, it gave him a world-wide re- 
putation. So great had Sullivan 
grown that the public had come to 
the belief that his equal would never 
appear. 

Often Shakespeare's question 
arose and people wondered upon 
what meat doth this our Caesar feed 
that he hath grown so great. To 
thousands the presumption that Cor- 
bett could whip Sullivan seemed a 
species of insanity, and for hours 
after the fight men were little less 



jlo Our Jim 



than paralyzed at the news. Some 
swore that the fight was sold, and 
others, who a day before had vowed 
that Sullivan was in the pink of con- 
dition suddenly switched and de- 
clared that dissipation had killed 
him. 

Though 8 years younger than Sul- 
livan, Corbett had made a good re- 
cord before he whipped John L. 
His genealogy is Celtic, like many 
others of the world's athletic race. 
His father is a native of County 
Mayo, Ireland, and his mother is a 
native of Dublin. 

Corbett is very proud of his ances- 
try and frequeutly makes mention of 
the fact that he was named after an 
uncle, Father James Corbett, who is 
a priest in Ireland. 

Corbett, when a boy, achieved a 
name for himself as a good ball 
player, playing left field for the 
Olympic club and batting like a vet- 
eran. While doing gymnasium work, 
during the off months he took to 
boxing, and soon became so clever 



The World 's Champion 4.1 

that his friends induced him to enter 
the Olympic Athletic Club's tourna- 
ment for the amateur heavy-weight 
championship - of the coast. He 
easily punched his way through 
this class, winning very quickly. 
So impressive was his victory that 
the Olympic Club opened negotia- 
tions with him the same night to act 
as its boxing instructor, and he signed 
a contract with them a few days 
after. He maintained the position 
for over a year without engaging in 
any outside contests until Jack 
Burke, the well-known "Irish lad," 
stopped at 'Frisco on his way to 
Australia. Corbett took Burke on, 
it being his first professional battle. 
The men boxed eight rounds in the 
Mechanics' Pavilion, but as the 
police would allow no referee no de- 
cision other than that of the public's 
could be rendered. It was generally 
conceded that the Californian had 
bested his man all the way. 

This virtual victory at once made 
him immensely popular in San Fran- 



j.2 Our Jim 



cisco, and he developed into a full- 
fledged professional pugilist, meet- 
ing and defeating the beast heavy- 
weights on the Coast, the most im- 
portant of these engagements being 
with Joe Choynski, who has since 
pushed his way into the front ranks 
of fighters. Corbett fought Choynski 
twice — the first time in a barn and 
the second time on the barge near 
Benicia. The first fight, as his 
friends will remember, was stopped 
by the Sheriff, and in the second 
Corbett won in the twenty-seventh 
round. 

The Californian's fame had now 
become national, and he was offered 
a purse of $2,500 to go to New 
Orleans and box six rounds with 
Jake Kilrain. He took the first 
train, and proved to be easily the 
Baltimorean's master at the game, 
coming out without a mark. He 
then toured the country, his only 
engagement of importance being a 
four-round go with Dominick Mc- 
Caffrey in Brooklyn. He bested his 



The World 's Champion 4.3 

man. His last big battle of import- 
ance was a sixty-one-round draw with 
Peter Jackson before the California 
Athletic Club, which afterward cre- 
ated great discussion and not a little 
bitter feeling between the men. 

Jackson has all along claimed that 
he was ready and willing at any time 
to renew hostilities with Corbett, and 
the latter in substance told the same 
thing. Jackson's friends claim that 
the black was far from being himself 
the night of the battle, going into 
the ring with but one sound leg and 
in poor shape otherwise. 

Besides those mentioned above, 
Corbett has bested David Eiseman, 
2 rounds; James Daley, 4 rounds; 
Martin Costello (" Buffalo"), 3 
rounds; Duncan McDonald of Butte 
City, 4 rounds; Mike Brennan, 4 
rounds, and William Miller of Aus- 
tralia, 3 rounds. He also recently 
boxed all around Jim Hall in Chi- 
cago. His go with Jo Lannon, so 
far as points were concerned, illus- 
trated Corbett's superior cleverness 



44 Our Jim 



but the go did not earn him much 
glory. Lannon always said he was 
engaged to box a friendly set-to, and 
was not in condition to fight. 

sullivan's record. 

John L. Sullivan was born in Bos- 
ton, October 15th, 1858. His most 
important victories were over John 
Donaldson, John Flood, Joe Goss, 
Paddy Ryan (in Mississippi, Febru- 
ary, 1882) Charley Mitchell, Jim 
Elliott, Joe Collins, (known as Tug 
Wilson), Herbert Slade, Alf Green- 
field and Jake Kilrain. The closest 
call he ever had was with Dominick 
McCaffrey. Charley Mitchell once 
knocked Sullivan squarely off his 
feet The performance stands alone 
in Sullivan's history. 



The World 's Champion $5 



CHAPTER VII. 

CORBETT AT WORK, 

A Day at the Great Pugilist's Training Quar- 
ters Just Before the Fight? — Preparations 
for Fame and Fortune. 

As good a way as the reader can 
learn how Corbett trained for his 
great victory is to read the follow- 
ing from Earle H. Eaton's pen. It 
was written a few weeks before the 
fight: Try to imagine a tall, lithe, 
agile, young giant, with broad 
brawny shoulders that Hercules 
would have envied, with long muscle- 
corded arms as quick to move, as 
strong to strike a blow and well-nigh 
as tireless as the piston rods of a 
big engine; with shapely, powerful 
legs that an athletic Apollo would 
have thoroughly approved of; with a 



Our Jim 



strong, courageous, determined face, 
bright, intelligent eyes, and a thick, 
aggressive, unyielding black pompa- 
dour — imagine all this, I say — then 
place the young giant, clad only in 
the briefest of white tights, before a 
big leather football, which he is 
punching with a vim that makes the 
training quarters tremble, and you 
will have an idea how James J. Cor- 
bett looks when he is hard at work 
training for his battle with Sullivan. 

If any one imagines that training 
for a ring contest is child's play, a 
day with Corbett at W. A. Brady's 
pretty summer cottage at Loch Ar- 
bour, near Asbury Park, would dis- 
abuse his mind of the idea. From 8 
in the morning until 7:30 at night 
the California pugilist works like a 
Trojan, swimming, rowing, walking, 
playing handball punching the bag, 
sparring or wrestling with Jim Daly, 
working at the wrist machine or the 
pully weights, or taking a five or ten 
mile walk along the pleasant New 



The World 's Champion 4.7 

Jersey roads, with his faithful Scotch 
collie Ned at his heels. 

Corbett does not rise with the sun, 
but at 7:45 every morning he takes 
a row for an hour on the lake near 
the Brady cottage. Then comes a 
hearty breakfast of fruit, oatmeal, 
soft boiled eggs, chops, potatoes and 
coffee, just such a breakfast as any 
man with a good appetite might sit 
down to. In fact, Corbett's diet, now 
that he weighs 187 pounds — one 
pound below the weight he desires 
— differs from everyday fare only by 
the absence of pastry. 

An hour and a half after breakfast, 
when the process of digestion is 
comfortably under way, Corbett be- 
gins the day's work in earnest. He 
tosses his brown yachting cap aside, 
strips off his blue striped outing 
shirt and clad only in white trousers, 
armless undershirt and canvas shoes 
he improves the grip of his hands 
and strengthens his wrists and fore 
arms by work at the wrist machine. 
This muscle-making contrivance re- 



8 



Our Jim 



sembles an .ordinary water well wind- 
lass except that it is so small around 
at one point that the hands can 
easily clutch it. From the windlass 




a cord runs over a pulley at the ceil- 
ing and then down to weights weigh- 



The World 's Champion $g 

ing ten pounds. By turning the wind- 
lass with the hands the weights are 
lifted to the ceiling and then allowed 
slowly to descend. 

It is quite a. simple matter to send 
the weights up once, but the third or 
fourth time the hands of a novice 
become so cramped and tired that he 
is quite willing to stop. Corbett's 
muscular hands, however, will send 
the weights ceiling ward over eighty 
times without a pause. Light exer- 
cise at the pulley weights and toss- 
ing the u medicine" ball follow. The 
former strengthen the arms, should- 
ers and back, and the quaintly named 
sphere, which weighs eight pounds, 
and looks exactly likely like a big 
overgrown baseball, performs much 
the same service, as the Californian 
and his companions play catch 
with it. 

After half an hour of this sort of 
work Corbett's eyes brighten, for 
handball time has come. He is an 
expert player, and he says he enjoys 
this part of his training more than 



§0 Our Jim 



any other. Once in the big hand- 
ball court, surrounded by its high 
board fence, Corbett plays against 
four or five men, including his train- 
er, Bill Deiany, and his sparring 
partner, Jim Daley, and Corbett 
usually defeats the whole aggrega- 
tion with ease. He is as agile as a 
deer, and the ball must be a very dif- 
ficult one indeed that Corbett fails 
to return successfully. 

After two or three games in the 
court Corbett and Daly wrestle for 
twenty minutes and then they enjoy 
a bath in old ocean's surf, a few rods 
distant. When the big Californian 
emerges from the water he is rubbed 
down with alcohol, after which he 
does justice to a plain but very pala- 
table lunch. 

For an hour and a half after this 
repast Corbett lounges in the ham- 
mock. Loch Arbour is a very se- 
cluded place, but dozens of people 
flock in daily from miles around to 
see the young athlete, who is a col- 
lege graduate and an ex bank clerk, 



The World! s Champion 51 

who uses the best of grammar and 
always deports himself like a gentle- 
man, and whose motto differs only 
from that of the intrepid plainsman 
who painted a Pike's Peak or Bust!" 
on his wagon in the particular that 
it reads: 

''Best Sullivan or bust!" 

Corbett has hitched his pugilistic 
wagon to a star, for he declares that 
he will whip Sullivan and become 
the worlds champion or leave the 
ring. 

The strangers that call upon Cor- 
bett are nearly all well dressed, in- 
telligent looking business men, and 
they usually approach the Califor- 
nian with shyly extended hand and 
say: "Well, Mr. Corbett. glad to 
see you. Don't you know, but I've 
got a little money on you and I just 
wanted to drop in and wish you suc- 
cess. " 

Corbett always shakes the friendly 
hand, bows and says " Thank you.'' 
There is nothing of the blowhard 
about him. He remains silent many 



§2 Our Jim 



times under very trying circum- 
stances, but no matter what happens 
he fixes both eyes on the world's 
championship and keeps on sawing 
wood. 

The afternoon's work differs little 
from that of the morning. For half 
an hour Corbett works at the pulley 
weights, doing his monotonous and 
tiresome task without a sign of im- 
patience or a spurring word from 
trainer Delaney. 

When the pulley weights begin to 
get tired and the half hour has gone 
into history, Corbett plays two or 
three more games of handball and 
then dons the gloves in the handball 
court and spars for ten or fifteen 
minutes with Jim Daly, the shifty 
young boxer who fought a draw not 
long ago with big Joe McAuliffe. 
Daly did not become Corbett's spar- 
ring partner with suicidal intent, 
consequently no hard blows are 
struck, but Daly endeavors to corner 
Corbett, while the latter practices 
planting his favorite blows and then 



The World 's Champion 53 



getting away adroitly to avoid pun- 
ishment. His piercing eyes never 
for an instant leave those of his op- 
ponent; he is as quick on his feet as 
a cat, and in the matter of elusive- 
ness the Irishman's proverbial flea 
wouldiweep pea green tears of envy 
if pitted against the California!!-. 




5^ Our Jim 



When Corbett is well warmed up 
by his work with Daly, he hurries 
into the little red barn, where the 
training quarters proper are located, 
strips himself literally to the very 
" buff," dons an abbreviated pair of 
white tights and a pair of gloves and 
then sails into the punching bag with 
a ferocity and vehemence that must 
make the unfortunate leather sphere 
heartily wish that it were once more 
galloping over a Lone Star State 
ranch on the back of a Texas steer. 

For thirty minutes without a pause 
Corbett fights the bag as fircely as 
though right and left were being sent 
with malice prepense at the head- 
piece of Mr. John Lawrence Sulli- 
van, of Boston. Again and again 
the bag strikes the ceiling with a re- 
port like a rifle shot, coming back 
spitefully at Corbett's head each 
time as it it would burst itself for joy 
if it could only flatten out that ag- 
gressive pompadour just once. Each 
time, however, Corbett deftly ducks 
his massive head; the disappointed 



The World 's Champion 55 

bag misses his pompadour by a hair- 
breadth, and as it flies back receives 
a terrific short arm right hander that 
knocks it oblong. If Corbett wins at 
New Orleans that same blow will be 
the one that stamps the word cham- 
pion on his brow. 

After Corbett has punched the 
round bag into innocuous desuetude, 
he occasionally varies the monotony 
by making life miserable for a bal- 
loon-shaped bag of his own inven- 
tion, a picture of which appears in 
this chapter. 

The thirty minutes of bag punch- 
ing is most exhaustive work, but 
when it is ended Corbett is as fresh 
as ever, and his breathing is but the 
merest trifle accelerated. He then 
gets a cold bath and a rub down, 
dons a sweater and is off at once for 
a ten-mile run and walk over roueh 
roads. Another bath, dinner, a sin- 
gle good cigar, a few games of seven- 
up, and at 10:30 Corbett turns in for 
the night. 



§6 Our fim 



"I was never in such good condi- 
tion in my life," Corbett said to the 
writer. " You have seen me train 
all day, and I want to tell you that I 
have worked just as faithfully every 
day since I have been here. I was 
sick when I fought Peter Jackson 
sixty -one rounds to a draw, but as I 
am in perfect condition now I ex- 
pect to make the best fight of my 
life in September. If I win I shall 
defend the title of champion against 
all comers. If I lose I shall retire 
from the ring. Further than that, I 
only care to say that, win or lose, I 
shall star next season in my new 
play, 'Gentleman Jack.' " 



The World 's Champion 57 




The battle at the Olympic Club, 
New Orleans, will be for the world's 
championship, a purse of $25,000 
and a wager of $10,000 a side, more 
money than was ever before fought 
for in the ring. 



§8 Our Jim 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Jim's Great Confidence. 

The California Boy Seemed to Know From the 
Very Outset That He Would Best "The Big 
One." 

Well-based confidence marked 
Corbett from the very outset. To 
his friends and to reporters he often 
said there was no question he would 
defeat Sullivan. 

More than any fighter in all his- 
tory Corbett resembled Napoleon in 
the unshakable confidence of his vic- 
tory. He seems to have mastered 
the problem of whipping Sullivan 
from an intellectual point of view 
long months before the fight. In 
fact it was his life ambition, so when 
he entered the ring the stored en- 
ergies of years mounted to his brain 



The World' s Champion $g 

and nerves to give succor to his 
thews and sinews. 

The day before the fight Jim said 
to a newspaper man: 

"I have grown stronger and big- 
ger, as you will see when you see 
me stripped. I am in a fine condition, 
and, though I know that Sullivan 
is a phenomenon, I know that I can 
whip him. I know that because I 
have seen him acting. I felt him 
thoroughly when we sparred at the 
Grand Opera House. I have studied 
his style of action. I know his weak 
points, as well as his strong, and I 
think I know enough to take advan- 
tage of the former and avoid the lat 
ter. 

"I have been told that it is Sulli- 
van's intention to rush me for a 
couple of rounds, then rest for a 
round and rush me again. I would 
like to know what sort of an opinion 
he has of me if he thinks he can 
carry out that programme. If I am 
so utterly at his mercy that he can do 
what he pleases with me in the ring, 



60 Our Jim 

he had better whip me in short order 
and put me out of the game forever. 
But after Mr. Sullivan has tried a 
couple of rounds of rushine I will be 
there in the ring with him, and I 
have got too much sense to give him 
a round of rest. He will find that I 
can keep him pretty busy, I think, 
when he will want to be taking a 
snooze and get ready to rush me 
some more. 

"There is another thing, and that 
is about Mr. Sullivan's rushes. I 
understand his rushes, and I know 
that it is not thrifty for any one to 
let Mr. Sullivan punch them, but I 
am a good bit longer in the reach 
than he is, and I think I can reach 
his face just a little before he can 
reach my body, and neither Mr. Sul- 
livan nor anybody else would have a 
continuous appetite for rushing after 
a few stiff arm-stops. I have seen 
the way Mr. Sullivan goes after a 
man, beating down his guard, send- 
ing swinging blows after his ribs and 
head, keeping his left to feint with 



The World's Champion 61 

and his right to smash. The mis- 
take a great many men have made 
is in thinking that he meant to use 
his left when he meant to use his 
right. I don't mean to say that I 
know more than anybody else, but it 
has been in my mind to fight Sulli- 
van for a long time. I have made a 
careful study of his work. After a 
time I was surprised to see how few 
blows he really uses. He works on 
the same order nearly all the time, 
and if I am quick to evade him or 
clever enough to stop him in one 
round I ought to be for fifty." 

"How did you get along with your 
training?" 

"Oh, all right. The work was 
not a bit hard or distasteful, and you 
can see the fix I'm in. Come around 
to the Southern Club and look me 
over when 1 am stripped." 

<( Is there anything in the fight 
that you fear ?" he was asked. 

"I would be a fool," he said, "if I 
did not know that a swinging right 
from Sullivan, if it landed, might put 



62 Our Jim 

me out. That is what I have got to 
look out for, but the beauty of such 
blows is that they cannot be de- 
livered as quickly as a stab and the 
fellow that is going - to hit you a 
knock-out blow has to telegraph you 
that he is getting ready to do it. As 
far as Sullivan's infighting is con- 
cerned, I am not a bit afraid of that. 
Peter Jackson was an infighter and 
I had a good deal of experience with 
him. 

"In some respects Jackson and 
Sullivan fight very much alike. They 
try and keep either too far away 
from you or too close to give you a 
show to do them any harm. Sulli- 
van guards himself a little in his 
rushes and then throws his weight 
On you. Jackson has very much the 
same trick. The only way to get 
them when they do that is to jab 
them at close quarters. I am pretty 
good at that sort of thing myself, and 
you may be sure that a couple of 
good stiff jabs are nearly as effective 
as one full-arm blow. 



The World \s Champion 63 

"Tell the boys in San Francisco 
for me, and tell my friends, that I 
know all about the kind things they 
have been saying, and I appreciate 
them. I felt very much obliged to 
William Geer Harrison for the nice 
things he said, and to all the other 
boys. Tell them to paste this in 
their hats to-morrow night when they 
are in front of the bulletin board 
looking at the returns: If they see 
me get through the sixth round all 
right to be as confident as they 
please. 

" Sullivan's limit for rushing is 
four rounds. I am going to play 
him for two rounds more, and if I 
am in the ring at the end of six 
rounds, the fight will be to the clev- 
erest man with the most bottom, and 
I think I am that man. It is all very 
well for Sullivan to talk about whip- 
ping me in a punch. If he had 
thought he could do that I do not 
think he would have trained, I 
don't think he would have trained 
down from 260 pounds to 2 1 o pounds. 



64 Our Jim 



I know he does not like training a 
bit, and he did not do all the hard 
work for the sake of showing his 
friends that he could train. That 
sort of story is a bit too gauzy to go 
with me." 

W. W. Naughton, who saw Cor- 
bett the day before the battle, said: 

" I saw Jim Corbett this afternoon 
at the Southern Athletic Club. He 
was in fighting costume, just as he 
will appear in the ring with Sullivan 
to-morrow night. Corbett's magni- 
ficent appearance surprised me, as 
when he fought Jackson he was 
pasty-faced and there was a lack of 
muscle in his arms. Now he is 
brown as a berry. His shoulder- 
knobs resemble young beehives, and 
his biceps and forearms are wonder- 
fully developed, and his arms and 
fists are the color of sole leather and 
equally as hard, while around his 
shoulders, back and neck there seem 
to be nothing but masses of thews, 
covered over with tanned and pol- 
ished skin. He was a boy, so to 



The World 's Champion 6$ 

speak, in the Jackson fight; now he 
is a fully developed man." 

On August 30th Jim wrote the 
following letter to his parents: 

Dear Folks — You will receive 
this the day before or the day of the 
fight, and all I can say is, keep your 
confidence in me. I will win in 
about twenty to twenty-five rounds. 
I am better than I ever was before 
and will win sure. Good-bye and 
God bless you all. Don't worry a 
second, I am sure to win. 

Your loving son, . 

Jim." 



66 Our Jim 



CHAPTER IX, 



Rules That Governed the Mill. 

The Marquis of Queensberry Code in Detaii, as 
Applied to Most of the Great Prize Fights. 

The rules under which the great 
fight took place are known as the 
Marquis of Queensberry code, and 
they are very satisfactory to sporting 
men, being far superior in many re- 
spects to the London rules. 

The following comprises the 
famous 

MARQUIS OF QUEENSBERRY RULES. 

Rule i. — The weights of all shall 
be as follows: For heavy, over 158 
pounds; middle, under 158 pounds 
and over 140 pounds; light, under 



The World 's Champion 67 

140 pounds; feather, under 120 
pounds. 

Rule 2. — No wrestling or hugging 
allowed. The rounds to be three 
minutes' duration, and one minute 
time .allowed for resting between 
each round. 

Rule 3. — In all contests two time- 
keepers shall be appointed, and the 
referee under no circumstances shall 
keep time. 

Rule 4. — During the contest, if 
either man fall through weakness or 
otherwise, he must get up unassisted, 
ten seconds being allowed him to do 
so; the other man meanwhile to re- 
tire to his corner, and when the 
fallen man is on his legs the round is 
to be resumed and continued until 
the three minutes have expired; and 
if one man fails to come to the scratch 
in the ten seconds allowed, the re- 
feree* shall give his award in favor of 
the other man. 



68 Our Jim 



Rule 5. — A contestant hanging 
on the ropes in a helpless state, with 
his feet on the ground, shall be con- 
sidered down. No seconds or any- 
other persons but the referee to be 
allowed in the ring during the 
round. 

Rule 6. — When either contestant 
is knocked down within the allotted 
three minutes he shall be allowed ten 
seconds to get on his feet again, un- 
assisted. 

Rule 7. — The gloves to be fair- 
sized boxing gloves of the best qual- 
ity, and new. Should a glove burst 
or come off, it must be replaced to 
the referee's satisfaction. A man on 
his knee is considered down, and if 
struck while in this position it will 
be considered foul. No shoes or 
boots with spikes allowed. 

Rule 8. — That any pugilist vol- 
untarily quitting the ring previous to 
the deliberate judgment of the re- 



The World 's Champion 6g 



feree being obtained shall be deemed 
to have lost. 

Rule 9. — That the seconds shall 
not interfere, advise or direct the 
adversary of their principal, and 
shall refrain from all offensive and 
irritating expressions, in all respects 
conducting themselves with order 
and decorum, and confine themselves 
to the diligent and careful discharge 
of their duties to their principals. 

Rule 10. — If either man shall wil- 
fully throw himself down without re- 
ceiving a blow — whether blows shall 
previously have been exchanged or 
not — he shall be deemed to have lost 
the battle; but that the rule shall 
not apply to a man who in a close 
slips down from the grasp of his op- 
ponent, or from obvious accident. 

Rule ii. — If a glove shall burst 
or come off, it must be replaced im- 
mediately to the satisfaction of the 
referee. Any tampering with the 



jo Our Jim 



gloves, by forcing the hair from the 
gloves or otherwise, shall be con- 
sidered foul. 

Rule 12. — An honest and compe- 
tent referee, who is familiar with the 
rules, shall be chosen, whose orders 
shall be promptly obeyed, and his 
decisions in all cases shall be final. 
In orderthat exhibitions may be con- 
ducted in a quiet and pleasant man- 
ner, it is suggested that the referee 
should always request all persons 
present to refrain, while a contest is 
in progress, from any loud expres- 
sion or demonstration. 



The World's Champion yi 



CHAPTER X. 

The Great Fight. 

An Account of Sullivan's Waterloo — Corbett's 
Account of How He Bested the Immortal 
"John L." 

The night of the fight, September 
7th, 1892, James J. C©rbett sent the 
following telegram to a San Fran- 
cisco newspaper: 

"I want all my friends to share 
my pleasure at success with me. I 
feel good, just as I expected to feel, 
for I have always felt sure I must 
win. Sullivan is big and strong, but 
I knew that he could not hit me. In 
the whole fight he never reached me 
with a blow. 

" I have not got a scratch nor a 
mark on my body. 



7 '2 Our Jim 



"I kept my right at reserve and cut 
him down with my left. When I 
saw I had him safe I ended it as 
soon as possible. 

':' I won by whipping him, not by 
keeping away. 

" Please give my regards to the 
Olympic Club and my friends. 

''James J. Corbett, 
"Champion of the World.*' « 

The entrance of the gloves and 
Professor Duffy, the referee, at 8:45, 
and the first testing of the gloves by 
time-keeper Frank, were the first 
real diversions. Then there was a 
chance for Police Captain Barrett, 
who made a few brief remarks, as 
usual, on the necessity of silence 
and the peril of entering the ring 
before the fight was over. He found 
the gloves of legal size, and pro- 
nounced his benediction on the con- 
test. 

The police took their stations near 
the ring. The crowd held its voice 
for a brief space, and all craned 



The World 's Champion 73 

their necks towards the corners from 
whence the champion and his gamy 
rival would come. Corbett's sec- 
onds got the lucky corner, but the 
chair there did not suit them. They 
wanted one without any back, so he 
could stretch out on the ropes be- 
tween the rounds and get all the air 
possible into his chest. Ex-Mayor 
Guillotte picked a cork out of the 
ring before he made the announce- 
ment of the terms of the fight. 

There was a deep scowl on Sulli- 
van's face as he entered He looked 
big and burly beside his young op- 
ponent, who had a bit of a smile in 
his face. The difference in size 
about the loins was very noticeable. 

Sullivan scowled some more when 
Captain Barrett presented Professor 
Duffy with a piece of silverware. 
He seemed to be a trifle more fleshy 
than he had been on Sunday, and it 
is likely he took on weight during 
the last two days. On first impres- 
sion it seemed that Corbett's chance 
was a slim one, he looked so slight 



J 4 Our Jim 



compared with the huge man in the 
other corner. He looked too good 
natured, almost gentle, to be a fit 
match for the scowling, determined- 
looking giant in green tights. 

Sullivan was lively and spoke to 
his seconds in a very rough way. 
His brow knitted angrily when the 
referee gave the orders about break- 
ing away in clinches. Trained as he 
was, there was no disguising the fact 
that he had more flesh than was good 
for him to carry, did the fight chance 
to be a long one. But he looked so 
much coarser and stronger and more 
brutal that one had to wonder at 
Corbett's courage in facing him, 
aside from his great prestige. The 
spectators watched them like hounds, 
not a point escaping them. 

"That's a greyhound," said a 
Montana sport who sat near by, 
and pointed at Corbett. I felt sorry 
for the lucky lad from California be- 
fore the fight began. With all his 
science, how could he bruise that 
terrible animal in front of him? The 



The World 's Champion 75 

scowl on Sullivan's face was terrible 
when the referee went to see if there 
was anything under his tights, 

People did not feel so sorry for Cor- 
bett when he had been in the ring 
for two minutes. He skipped away 
from Sullivan like a hare from a set- 
ter dog. The crowd hissed and 
cheered, and Sullivan's face was that 
of a demon. Three minutes and not 
a blow could Sullivan get in. The 
Californian was too clever. I began 
to feel sorry for Sullivan, and Cor- 
bett actually laughed at him and the 
crowd laughed too. Was the mighty 
hero to be laughed at by a slim lad? 

The longer it lasted the more Cor- 
bett laughed. Then Sullivan grew 
savage and rushed in. There was a 
hug and Corbett's left arm slashed 
across Sullivan's throat, holding him 
powerless. It was a case of check- 
mate, and how the house did yell. 

In another rush Corbett smashed 
him in the eye — smashed the cham- 
pion with a left lead that made him 
blind. Corbett laughed and skipped. 



j6 Our Jim 

Sullivan was bathed in perspiration. 
Two straight left smashes in his au- 
gust stomach from Corbett and one 
in the nose, made the crowd scream, 
and the faces of Sullivan's seconds 
were as black as their leader's. Af- 
ter the rally the Bostonian's chest 
heaved like a blacksmith's bellows. 

Four rounds and still Corbett was 
not smashed through the ropes. So 
far from it, in fact, that Sullivan was 
quite respectful, and did not try any 
more rushes. Sullivan's friends 
hissed savagely when Corbett 
evaded. Only fancy, twelve min- 
utes and not a blow to the credit 
of the champion that could have 
hurt a child. 

Sullivan laugbed instead of scowl- 
ing in the fifth. He hit savagely at 
long range, but his blows only hit 
the air. Suddenly Corbett woke up 
and smashed Sullivan in the face as 
he would hit a boy. His blows 
were lightning. The crowd could 
not see them, but they saw Sulli- 
van's face a mass of blood, his left 



The World's Champion jj 

eye cut, his nose bleeding, and they 
saw a look on his face that was 
awful. 

Again Corbett hit the big one, 
and his face was as Skelly's at the 
end of the Dixon light. The crowd 
yelled themselves hoarse. Blood 
had whetted their appetites, and the 
crowd asked: " Who's the sprinter 
now?" It was wonderful science. 
Sullivan could not hit him. He 
knew it, and though strong and sav- 
age, had ceased to smile. 

The following is Mr. Naughton's 
concise account of the fight by 
rounds: 

ROUND I. 

Sullivan tried a left and Corbett 
ducked. He caught another on his 
arm and hopped away from a right 
swing, which nearly upset Sullivan, 
so great was its force. Corbett 
danced around and the crowd began 
to hiss, but he only grinned and still 
kept away. 



y 8 Our /z/;z 



Sullivan made one of his famous 
rushes, but only found the ropes. 
He tried again with the same result, 
and his lip seemed to curl at Cor- 
bett's runaway tactics. Sullivan 
steadied himself a moment and tried 
a left at the stomach. He only found 
air and the crowd jeered. 

Not a blow landed during the 
round, and as Corbett went to his 
corner he was cheered to the echo. 
He smiled in a contented fashion. 

ROUND II. 

Sullivan continued to feint and 
Jim kept hopping nimbly away. 
John tried a hard left hand blow and 
did not come within two feet of the 
mark. Then he tried a left at the 
head and missed. Sullivan then 
rushed and got his right home on 
Corbett's jaw. 

There was a clinch on the ropes 
and Corbett's forearm w r ent across 
Sullivan's throat and they separated, 
and as Sullivan walked to the center 



The World's Champion yg 

of the ring Jim smashed him hard on 
the mouth with his left. John L. 
made two or three lunges at the body 
after that and another clumsy though 
forcible right swing. Corbett 
dodged them. He was still laugh- 
ing and just before the gong went 
off swung his left against Sullivan's 
stomach. 

ROUND III. 

Sullivan was now looking serious. 
He feinted and frowned, but Corbett 
smiled and dodged. He tried aright 
at the head twice and Jim was away 
like a red shark. After awhiie Cor- 
bett came back and swung his left 
savagely into the champion's stom- 
ach, avoiding a return. Emboldened- 
by his good luck Corbett tried for 
the face with both hands and got 
there, while the onlookers yelled like 
Comanches. 

Sullivan was sweating like a bull. 
He still continued to rush, one of 
his blows going over the grinning 
California's head. Corbett was do- 



So Our Jim 

ing famously and the Sullivanites 
were looking glum. 

ROUND IV. 

Sullivan tried a rush and Corbett 
backed away. Sullivan tried twice 
more and Corbett laughingly avoided 
him. Once or twice Jim dropped his 
arms and gazed sarcastically at the 
big fellow. More rushes from Sul- 
livan, during which he did nothing 
more serious than slap Jim once on 
the back. 

Corbett feinted rapidly and Sulli- 
van's eyes widened. Then Jim 
rubbed his nose playfully and skipped 
away. Before the round closed he 
reached Sullivan's head with a hard 
right. 

ROUND V. 

Sullivan came from his corner with a 
smile of derision. There was a left-hand 
exchange on the head and Corbett put in 
an extra left-hander on the face. Sullivan 
got home with his left on the face and 



The World 's Champion 81 

they clinched. Then Jim worried John 
again with some rapid feinting, until Sul- 
livan rushed and missed. Sullivan tried 
a right-hander, but Corbett smashed him 
on the face, bringing the blood in showers. 
Now they fought savagely, Corbett do- 
ing the better work. He ducked from 
Sullivan's right and peppered the cham- 
pion's face with left swings until Sullivan 
looked gruesome. He clinched and tried 
to hit Corbett while hugging. Corbett 
broke away and punched him again and 
again. There was tremendous excite- 
ment. 

ROUND VI. 

Both men landed light lefts, and Sulli- 
van's nose was bleeding again. The 
champion was beginning to look tired, for 
he missed his right, which was aimed for 
the jaw. Corbett took plenty of time and 
used the entire ring to maneuver in. He 
landed a light stomach punch and hit the 
champion in the face. 

A little later there was a heavy ex- 
change of lefts on the head and Sullivan 
seemed angry and slapped his opponent 
with his left hand. Corbett landed with 
blows on the head and ran away. The 



82 Our Jim 



men were in the center of the ring and it 
began to look as though some of the fight 
was out of Sullivan. Corbett landed a 
heavy left on Sullivan's head and the 
champion went to his corner looking tired. 

ROUND VII. 

Sullivan landed on the chest with his 
left. Corbett responded with a left-facer. 
More blood trickled from the cracked 
bridge of Sullivan's nose. Then Corbett 
took the lead, getting in several nose flat- 
teners with both hands, and also swinging 
his left into the .body. 

Sullivan's face was bathed in blood and 
a number said: "Out!" "He's licked!" 
"He's licked!" He could not counter 
Corbett effectively. Corbett backed him 
to the ropes and hit him a heavy right- 
hander on the damaged snout. Sullivan's 
back bent over the ropes and he looked 
anything but a world's champion. The 
stripling from California was playing shut- 
tlecock and battledore with him. 

ROUND VIII. 

A light bodyblow from Sullivan was 
met by a straight left nose-disturber from 



The World ' s Champion Sj 

Corbett. The blood trickled again. Sul- 
livan made a rush which was met by a 
right-hander which damaged his left eye. 
There were a couple of clinches, and some 
of the Sullivan men complained that Cor- 
bett forced John L.'s head back with his 
forearm on his throat. 

Sullivan tried fighting at long range and 
got a brace of lefts and rights which made 
his puffed and bleeding face more bloody. 
Corbett had got down to his work and 
was punching his man terribly. Corbett 
himself did not show a scratch. 

ROUND IX. 

Corbett ducked under Sullivan's arm as 
the big fellow made a wild rush. Sullivan 
landed a backhander on the back of Cor- 
bett's neck. Jim steadied himself and 
sent a punishing left-hander on the face. 
Then he kept away and looked the big 
fellow over. 

Sullivan tried to get close with his dam- 
aging left hand jab. Sullivan rushed and 
clinched. It looked like 2 to I on Cor- 
bett, and there was gloom in the Sullivan 
corner. Corbett smashed John L. on the 
wind twice with his left, then Sullivan 



c$V Our Jim 



rushed again and his lead was sent back 
with a stray left smash. The men were 
locked in each others arms when the gong 
sounded. 

ROUND X. 

The fighting now reached the point 
where level betting was considered a fair 
thing. So far the battle had all been in 
the Californian's favor. Sullivan put in 
two straights, but the force of the blows 
was spent before they reached Corbett's 
face. Sullivan got home a right-hander 
on the ribs and was treated to a left on 
his gore-covered nose. Corbett met him 
with the left, and by the time Sullivan had 
made his time-honored right swing Cor- 
bett was four feet away. Sullivan was 
surely tiring himself in boring tunnels 
through the atmosphere. 

ROUND XI. 

Sullivan landed a snapping left on the 
chest bone. He then sent in a left in the 
body, but received a left on the face which 
came in like a flash. Sullivan looke'd seri- 
ous and fiddled for an opening. While 
he was working his arms Corbett got over 



The World' $ Champion 85 

his guard and shot a damaging left. Twice 
more Corbett performed the same trick, 
and Sullivan's face looked as if he had run 
against a brick wall. 

Corbett put in no less than four hot 
punches on the stomach, and was never 
there when Sullivan intimated that he 
wished the San Franciscan to have one 
with him. 

ROUND XII. 

Corbett drove his left in on the stomach 
again. He did the same thing, only a 
good deal harder, once more, and the big 
fellow looked a trifle weary at the monot- 
ony of the thing. Sullivan led short a 
couple of times and Corbett 's left countered 
him in good shape. He did not seem to 
be happy unless Sullivan's nose was red 
with blood. Corbett banged away on the 
stomach again with his left, and by way 
of a change put in left and right on the 
face. Sullivan tried another rush, but 
found nothing. 

Corbett put in another left** on the 
mouth and one on the stomach, and 
Sullivan scored a right-hander on the ribs 
as the round closed. It was a pretty fight, 
but one-sided as to the punishment. 



86 Our Jim 



ROUND XIII. 

Neither man seemed to be blowing the 
least as they came to the scratch. They 
sparred cautiously, and Corbett did some 
clever dodging. Corbett seemed to be 
playing fast and loose /with the Bostonian. 

It surely looked as if the San Francis- 
can neglected good openings. He con- 
tented himself during the greater part of 
the round with allowing Sullivan to lead, 
and then show him by ducking how hard 
it was to find a target for his blow. 

ROUND XIV. 

There was a good counter on the face 
at the start and Corbett increased his lead 
by swinging on the jaw with his left. 
Another left exchange and Corbett put 
two unreturned left faces to his credit. 
Sullivan's left eye was swollen and he be- 
gan to look tired. Sullivan led for the face 
and got there with his left. Corbett re- 
turned the compliment in rattling style. 

ROUND XV. 

It looked dollars to doughnuts that Sul- 
livan could not accomplish the knock-out 
he had been backed for. 



The World 's Champion 8j 

Sullivan rushed, swinging savagely. 
He got his right home on the neck. It 
was a glancing blow and immediately 
afterwards Corbett stopped a second rush 
with his left and right. Sullivan's head 
went back with a jerk, and blood poured 
down his face. He sparred away for a 
moment, but Corbett gave him no rest. 
He threw his left into the stomach several 
times in succession. Sullivan failed to 
counter and Corbett still kept on pegging 
away at the Big Fellow's paunch. 

When the round ended there was a 
wild scene. Those who had backed Cor- 
bett to stay longer than fifteen rounds 
howled with delight. 

ROUND XVI. 

Sullivan made a double lead and Cor- 
bett warded off both blows. Then Cor- 
bett poked his face toward his opponent 
in a tantalizing manner. Sullivan smashed 
at it, but the blow fetl on James' chest. 
Both led with their left and scored on the 
face, and Corbett, as usual, threw in an 
extra one for good luck. The extra one 
started the ruby again from the bridge of 
Sullivan's cracked nose. Corbett went on 



88 Our Jim 



placing left and right on the side of the 
head. Sullivan clinched. They stood off 
again and Corbett smashed him in the 
face hard with both hands. Odds were 
freely offered that Corbett would win. 

ROUND XVII. 

Sullivan smashed Corbett's face with his 
left, but the blow was only a slip. He 
tried again and got Corbett hard on the 
chin twice. Corbett stopped Sullivan's 
left by raising his arm. 

Sullivan got in a glancing lefthander as 
Corbett ducked. Then Corbett sent his 
own left out and reached Sullivan's face 
solidly. Sullivan tried a rush and Cor- 
bett got away. Corbett seemed the most 
self-possessed mortal in the world as he 
went to his corner. 

ROUND XVIII. 

Sullivan led with his left, Corbett 
ducked the blow and landed one or 
two on Sullivan's stomach with his left 
before backing away. Sullivan seemed 
surprised. Corbett put in another left, 
widening the abrasion on Sullivan's 



The World 's Champion 8g 

swollen nose. Sullivan tried a left lead 
and was countered stiffly twice in succes- 
sion. His lips grew bigger each moment 
and he seemed to grow listless in his 
movements. 

Twice again Corbett sent his left in on 
the face and then Sullivan rushed. Cor- 
bett poked his left straight in the cham- 
pion's face and crossed him with the right 
on the cheek. 

Between the rounds Sullivan's seconds 
were busy scraping the caked sand from 
the soles of the champion's shoes. 

ROUND XIX. 

i 
Each scored a left facer. Sullivan tried 
with his left for the body and missed. 
Corbett walked around a bit. Sullivan 
made a motion as if to swing his right 
and Corbett raised his brows and grinned. 
Sullivan tried to swing, but the effort was 
a failure. Corbett put in a couple of lefts 
on the stomach and then went for Sulli- 
van's face. He smashed him twice and 
Sullivan went back against the ropes 
without trying to get even. 



9o Our Jim 



ROUND XX. 

This was another betting round, as 
money had been wagered that Corbett 
would not last twenty rounds. He looked 
good for 1 20 as he went to the scratch and 
smashed Sullivan right and left in fierce 
style. The force of the blows sent Sul- 
livan back and he did not regain his senses 
quick enough to try a counter. Corbett 
was on top of him again, sending in both 
left and right. Blood flowed from Sulli- 
van's lips. His knees seemed to drag and 
he made no resistance. Then Corbett 
banged him right and left again, and Sul- 
livan hung on the ropes. He was bleed- 
ing freely and seemed all but gone. The 
gong rang at a critical time. 

ROUND XXI. 

Sullivan's legs seemed to be giving out. 
Corbett smashed him with his left, and the 
blood came down the bridge of the nose 
again. Then Corbett went at him like a 
tiger. He landed out with right and left, 
and Sullivan's knees knocked together. 
He reeled to the ropes and his arms 
dropped. 



The World 's Champion gi 

Corbett gave him no respite. He 
smashed him so rapidly with both hands 
that the blows sounded like drum beats. 
Sullivan's head went from side to side, 
and he could not raise his hands. He be- 
gan to sink to the ground slowly, Corbett 
keeping up the battery with both hands 
all the time. 

Then Sullivan's eyes seemed to close 
and he collapsed. He fell prone on his 
back near the ropes, the blood gushing 
from nose and mouth. He was not thor- 
oughly knocked out. He rolled over on 
his face, and his body, legs and green 
tights became covered with the damp sand. 
McAuliffe showered him with water from 
a sponge, but Sullivan was past help. 

He got on his hands and fell forward on 
his face. Corbett stood close by ready to 
resume the fight should Sullivan raise, but 
there was no fight left in the champion. 
The uproar that arose was such that it 
drowned the sound of the gong, so Referee 
Duffy began to count. His voice could 
not be heard, but he motioned each one 
with his finger. He had counted ten and 
Sullivan was still on his face. 

Delaney and Mike Donovan rushed 
,into the ring to pull Corbett to his corner, 



g2 Our Jim 



but Jim waited to make sure that victory 
was his. He went close to Duffy and the 
latter patted him on the shoulder. That 
,was the only signal he could give, for the 
booming of a thousand cannon and the 
roaring of a whole herd of Kansas cyclones 
would have been but popguns exploding 
to the sounds which filled the big pavilion. 



The World 's Champion gj 



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